I have never been a fan of summer and winter wardrobes. When other women tell me that they are in the process of switching over from their summer to winter closets and vice versa, I shudder at the thought of having to say goodbye to pieces of clothing for an entire season. I always manage to convince myself that as soon as I put away those pieces of clothing we will have a wave of abnormal weather and I will need every single last piece of clothing I’ve boxed up. (And in New Jersey, this is actually quite possible). While I have been spoiled enough to be able to have my clothes all in one place (busting at the seams, but all in one place nonetheless) I do sadly find myself looking at the untouched Uggs in the summer and the bored tank tops in the winter and thinking, Perhaps I should have packed you up, out of sight, out of mind, and given myself more space in the meantime…
Can I tell you, I feel exactly the same about summer and winter treats as I do about summer and winter wardrobes. Last year’s Thanksgiving breakfast was all about pies. Having recently grown to love key lime pie, I suggested it as a possible addition to Hubby who wrinkled his nose and said, “Nobody will eat it. That’s a summer pie.”
A summer pie? Why? Who is to say we can’t have key lime pie in the winter and pumpkin bread in the summer? What almighty food marshal is keeping us from having turkey dinners out on the patio in the middle of July and grilled meats served with potato salad by our fireplaces in the winter?
Of course we can do these things, the interesting thing is that, just like the summer clothes I swear I’ll wear in the winter (and vice versa), we typically end up enjoying these specific seasonal items during the time of year where they can shine.
Hello, lemon bars!
This treat practically spells S-U-M-M-E-R. Up until this year, I always thought lemon bars were one of those super complicated treats that you either needed your grandma to teach you to make, or secretly you used a box mix and smiled and nodded when everyone complimented you on their deliciousness.
I now know that lemon bars are among the easiest of desserts to make.
I went with good ole’ Pioneer Woman’s recipe because I can usually count on her recipes to be straight forward, simple, and delicious. The cookie layer is possibly my favorite part and it is ridiculously easy to make.
The process is similar to preparing scones. When the flour-sugar-butter mixture is dumped into the pan it will seem impossible that the sandy combination will form a cookie, yet it does! With under fifteen minutes of prep time, and only 40 minutes total of baking time, this is a recipe that I can toss together for any summer get together!
The worst part? Waiting two hours for the bars to cool in the fridge. That wait, however, is well worth the ease of assembly and the refreshing flavors created.
Please note: A lemon square was hurt in the making of this lemon circle.
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